U.S. to make "every necessary change" to stabilize Iraq: Bush

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Saturday that he would make "every necessary change" to deal with the surge of violence and stabilize the situation in Iraq.

In his weekly radio address, Bush acknowledged that a drive to stabilize Baghdad had not gone as planned. But he said he would not abandon his goal of building a self-sustaining Iraqi government.

"Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging: Our goal is victory. What is changing are the tactics we use to achieve that goal," he said.

Referring to U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell's remarks earlier this week that a two-month-old campaign to curb violence in the Iraqi capital through mass troop reinforcement "has not met our overall expectations," Bush said, "We will continue to be flexible, and make every necessary change to prevail in this struggle."

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said on Friday that the Iraqi government must take control of security in the country "sooner rather than later."

Gen. George Casey, top U.S. commander in Iraq, and other U.S. officials are working with the Iraqi government to work on dates when they think they can pass off various pieces of responsibility, Rumsfeld said.

Waves of violence have dogged Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. More than 2,760 American soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the conflict.

A recent survey estimated that more than 650,000 people had been killed in the last three and a half years.

As the Nov. 7 mid-term elections approach, Bush is coming under growing pressure from lawmakers of the ruling Republican Party and the opposition Democratic Party to alter his Iraq policies.

Some U.S. lawmakers are calling for a new strategy in Iraq, including the partitioning of the state based on religious sects, and phased troop withdrawals.

Bush spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday, saying that he had no plans to pull U.S. forces out of the country and pledged full support for the Iraqi government, according to the White House.

Source: Xinhua